I'm so sorry for the big delay, as I said before I am currently at overseas to farther my study and I got a lot of problems here and I need to settled them down first before I could continuing to update my story, not to mention I had to buy new laptop (which I have) before I updated all of my stories. I was so sorry for the long wait but I hope this chapter could make it up. Thank you for my beta reader [regulusgal] for helping me edited this story ^^

Also I was so sad to inform that some people decided to report three of my stories [The Rival of Love], [Valentine's Gift], and [Dirty Little Secret] so they got removed by FF. I was trying my best to fit the rating so if you want to read good stuffs go visit my other website.

I do not own Shugo Chara or the characters inside! Enjoy ~

"Blood Is Red"

Chapter 3

The Everlasting Pain

Even though I knew he had married me only to make me his play thing, it still hurt me when Ikuto called me by another woman's name. He didn't need to treat me like this!

Tadase comforted and told me that it was going to be alright, but then I snapped at and took out my anger at him. "What do you know?!"

Then I realized it. Tadase didn't deserve to be treated like this. I apologized for my childish behavior and he told me that it was okay.

"I know. I know a lot, Princess," he told me suddenly.

I lifted up my head and motioned for him to continue.

"Don't I look a bit familiar to you?" he asked me.

I was taken aback by his question, but then I looked at him closely. He did remind me of someone that I had used to play with; someone who hadn't treated me like an object. The only family who treated me like a person was only the Hotoris.

Then it hit me.

The Hotoris were a prestigious family. The head of the family was the cousin of the queen, Tsukiyomi Souko. So it made Tadase Ikuto's cousin.

"You're that Tadase?" I exclaimed in surprise at my realization.

He nodded in confirmation – don't tell anyone, but I had had a crush on him since I had been still a child!

"What happened to your family?" I asked.

His face was suddenly saddened. "The king before, my grandfather, punished our family because my father disobeyed him. He made us become the slaves for the royalties and Ikuto brought me here and entrusted me to manage things."

Flashback

Tadase's POV

Today was my tenth birthday, but my parents couldn't celebrate it with me since the King assigned them a new problem to solve. Dad was the King's right-hand man, and Mom was the head of the Intelligence Team.

I was so lonely; no one was at home right now, except for the maids and butlers, but they were no fun! I walked out of my room to the maid quarters and asked one of them to bring me to the park.

Julia, my personal maid, took me to the nobles' park, but I refused. Children who played inside that park were no fun at all. They loved to show off their new things, and I hated them because they were afraid of my daddy and mommy, so they either didn't want to play with me or would let me win no matter what.

I asked Julia to bring me to the Purples'. I had never been there before, and I was curious about it. Nobles could visit any public areas they like, but Purples and Reds couldn't. It was a special rule. Julia escorted me to the park and I saw a pink-haired girl.

I quickly recognized her as Hinamori Amu, the daughter of Hinamori Tsumugu, my daddy's best friend. I approached and played with her. Julia didn't need to worry about me playing with Amu since we had played together a lot back at my house. She had used to visit my house with her parents and we had become best friends since the first time she had come over. She was cute and beautiful – she had silky shoulder-length bubblegum pink hair and a pair of golden eyes that I liked so much.

The sun set down soon. I bid my farewell to my pink-haired best friend and went home with Julia. Once I arrived, I noticed that my parents were home, but they didn't look happy.

"Father, Mother, what's wrong?" I asked them worriedly. Something must have gone wrong!

"We are no longer of nobility," Father began after what looked like mulling over what he should say to me. "Your grandfather decided to strip us down from our title because I refused to rule over Western City."

That did more than shocked me. Western City was a well-known city of our kingdom. As the soil there was the most fertile among other places, the city was able to continuously produce good-quality goods and stocked our foods during winter.

I couldn't help but utter, "Why?"

This time, Mother was the one who replied me. "We would have had to move to Western City if we had accepted the offer."

"No! I don't want to move!" I shouted automatically, pouting like a child I was.

Mother hugged me tight, tears brimming on the corner of her eyes. "I know, my son. That's why we rejected the offer."

"You don't want to move away because you will be apart from Amu, right?" Father asked with a hint of tease in his voice.

Damn, I was caught! I blushed and my parents smiled. At least they weren't as sad as before. "So, are we no longer a noble?"

My parents nodded, before Father continued while starting to pack things up. "We have to face the consequence as well. We will serve the royals from now on."

The next day, the three of us moved into the castle and did our jobs. I was appointed as the crown prince's playmate. Ikuto took interest in me because I had been the only noble that could live up to his expectation, so he told his father to give me a place in Hong Kong where the royals had business at. I couldn't say no, so the King placed me at Hong Kong, and since then I had been entrusted with the things happening in Hong Kong and needed to report to the kingdom monthly.

End of Flashback

Amu's POV

"Tadase!" I hugged him after he finished his story.

The Hotoris had suddenly vanished from our village one day. Their house had been sold and people hadn't really known where they had moved to. It had made me not have any friend left to play with. I cried a lot that day because no one would play with me, except the Purples, but they hadn't played with me too after such times because the Blues had started calling me 'the Pink Freak'.

Oh, he even had liked me back then. I was so happy!

The blonde hugged me back as we talked about the past. It surprised me when he recalled our little dates at the park. Hey, he still remembered it! If I could, I would probably scream out in joy and danced.

"Amu, I want to offer you something," he told me suddenly, looking a bit hesitant. "Run away with me."

I could swear my cheeks heated up. My old crush asked me to run away with him; how romantic! I was about to say yes when Ikuto's image flashed into my head. I was suddenly scared.

"What about Ikuto?" I asked.

He didn't give me any reply for a while. "Do consider my offer, okay?" he said. "I will handle Ikuto."

Tadase then asked me to go back to my room because he didn't want Ikuto to notice that we had acknowledged each other. I obeyed him and went back to my room only to find Ikuto kissing another girl on the couch.

The girl eyed me, and I told her not to mind me as I headed back into the bedroom, locked the door and cried.

He even dared to bring the girl back to our place of stay! How cruel was he? I cried over and over before drifting into the darkness.

The next morning I woke up, Ikuto was sleeping peacefully beside me.

The fuck? How could he enter this room? I swore I had it locked yesterday when I had got back into our room.

Looking around the room, I saw a note placed on my nightstand and read it.

So you're the Prince's wife, huh? I thought you will look more beautiful than me, but I guessed I was wrong. It will not take too much time for me to snatch him away from you! Anyway, we had a great night yesterday!

-R.

I didn't need to know who the girl was. It was Rima. She was beautiful as I recalled; shorter than me with long blond hair that reached below her waist.

They had had a great night, huh? Congratulations! Not like someone, I had lost my virginity to my husband by force. I was that miserable, right? Ha, I wished I could run away from this cruel life of mine.

Oh right, Tadase's offered me to do so last night; should I take the offer?

But then what if Ikuto found out? Would Tadase be alright? Wouldn't my husband kill him for taking me away?

But then I doubt Ikuto would care. I was his toy, not his wife.

Ikuto began to stir, and then blinked his eyes open. I looked down and faced him, and the prince smirked at me before I turned my head away. I spotted a red night gown like my own lying on the cold floor beside me.

Then realization hit me.

I was naked. Naked!

For god's sake, how could it be? I was dressed in my night gown last night.

I tried to recall what the hell had happened last night.

Flashback

I cried until my body submitted to the darkness due to my exhaustion. I didn't know how long I had been sleeping when I heard the door opened by someone. I sat on my bed immediately, on guard. I didn't pay too much attention to my surroundings, letting out a scream from my own throat when a pair of strong arms grabbed my waist.

"Sshh…" the cold voice hushed me. I shut up immediately and recognized the voice as Ikuto's.

How could he get in?

"Do you think you can run away from me, Amu?" he hissed into my ear. "I have every keys to all the room in this hotel since I owned it."

I started to cry because of my fear. He turned my body over and rubbed the tears away before kissing my eyes.

"No, don't…" I tried to stop him when I felt his hands slip beneath my night gown, begging him. "No, please…"

It was completely futile. Instead, it made him crazier with lust than before. He ripped my night gown away, leaving me only in my underwear, before he tackled me down to the bed. He was naked already – I knew he had finished his little activity with his whore, but I didn't care – and started kissing me.

I kept crying and begging him to stop, but he wouldn't listen to me. He nipped at my neck after he French-kissed me, while his two hands squeezed my breasts.

"No… No…" I kept begging him, moaning at the end.

"Your mouth might say no, but your body is craving for me," he whispered into my ear right before he pushed his huge cock into my pussy.

I moaned harder and harder as he thrust in and out. He was rougher than the first time he raped me, and I could swear my body would tear apart. I reached my climax, and he didn't stop until a minute later, when he reached his own. I collapsed onto the bed once again.

End of flashback

'How dare he?!' I yelled inwardly. He raped me again!

I felt my body so dirty, so I rushed into the bathroom and locked the door before bathing myself with warm water. I scrubbed my body again and again with the sponge, trying to ease the dirty feeling I got, but it didn't want to go. I cried when I scrubbed myself. It only made me feel dirtier.

How could I erase the disgusting feeling?

The bathroom door slammed open to reveal the bluenette who twirled a pack of keys in his hand. I backed away immediately, but he was faster and stronger than me. In a flash, he had me trapped between the wall and his body.

It didn't take him too much time to cup my breasts within his hands while he slipped his member inside me, riding me. I cried from the pain when he thrust deeply into me. He kept pumping in and out until we reached our climax. He pulled out of me after he shot out his seeds into my womb, then walked towards the shower and cleaned himself while I did the same thing with the bath. I had to drain the dirty water and refilled the tub with clean water.

He was the one to finish the shower first. He stepped out of the bathroom and wore the bathrobe, leaving me alone in the bathroom.

I finished my bath later and dressed myself in proper attires before stepping out into the bedroom and combed my hair. I let my pink hair down and clipped a black hairpin on it. I joined my husband for breakfast. I enjoyed the silent moment because neither one of us spoke up. He finished his breakfast first then walked out of the room to somewhere only god and him knew.

Tadase had been waiting for me and I asked him to bring me to the amusement park. I loved amusement parks a lot; they were the only kind of places where I could enjoy myself without worrying about other people. Since we had known the fact that we had been childhood friends, going out with the blonde man was more interesting than before.

I was surprised when I found out that he still remembered my old habits. This man surprised me a lot. We enjoyed our day at the park – we rode some scary rides, earning a fatigue for myself. I made a mental note not to ride those rides ever again for the rest of my life.

I enjoyed my time a lot today, except the being raped part. Tadase got me a big teddy bear when we played at one of the stands. He was an expert in this game! All we needed to do was shooting the balloons with a fake gun, and if you could shoot them all down, you would get any prize you want! I tried it once and I failed miserably. Tadase then volunteered to play and asked me what prize I wanted. I had eyed the teddy bear from the moment I had laid eyes on it, so I pointed it out. Tadase smirked at me and shot all the balloons down, getting my prize!

Ah, we also bought ice-cream. He still liked his vanilla, and I chose chocolate for myself. We devoured the sweet heavenly goods while sitting on one of the benches near the fountain. It was damn beautiful!

We finished our ice-cream later before deciding to go back to the hotel – oh, we stopped for a moment at a gift shop on the way back and I bought some merchandise for my parents, and probably grandfather as well. I also chose one for Tadase and Ikuto – they were the same things, but different colors: yellow for Tadase and blue for Ikuto. When I saw it, it reminded me a lot of those two, so I paid for the gifts and asked the cashier to help me wrap them up.

I walked out from the store with store with three bags in my hands. Tadase helped me bring them to the car and place them neatly beside my seat on the backseat before driving off to the hotel. Soon, I was greeted by the receptionist. I greeted the woman back, and then proceeded to ride the elevator up to the top floor of the building where my room was.

Ikuto was already back when I reached the room. Again, he invited me to another dinner.

I was suspicious. What was he up to? He had messed around with me, and he still wasn't satisfied?

I only nodded in acknowledgement and headed straight to the bedroom when suddenly he held me back. I glanced at him while he eyed my bags and teddy bear.

"Where did you get it?" he asked me, pointing at the teddy.

"Amusement park," I replied shortly. It wasn't a lie, though, because I had got it from amusement park – with Tadase's help, of course.

"Who got it for you?" Ikuto asked me.

I was taken aback. How did he know that the teddy was a prize? "What? How do you know?" I questioned him back with another question.

He hissed at me before telling me, "Rima's family owns the amusement park. I have been there and got her exactly the same teddy bear as this one."

Oh great. So my own husband didn't give me anything except the wedding ring. Ha, the ring had been needed to complete the ceremony, and let me tell you; don't expect it to be diamond or gold! The ring was silver; it showed how much I meant to him. Nothing special for his first wife, only a silver wedding ring, and yet he gave another woman a teddy bear?

"Why do you care?" I asked him, irritation evident in my voice. I knew I was being stubborn, but I wouldn't let him win this time.

He yanked me towards him and kissed me deeply. "You belong to me. Should I remind you?" he snarled before raping me once again.

We were late for the dinner because he kept pumping inside me until Tadase knocked on the bedroom door, notifying us that the dinner was ready. Ikuto let me go after that. We took a bath together – thank god he didn't rape me this time – then dressed ourselves in proper attires. I chose a black halter-necked long dress that the maid had packed for me – my dresses had been picked out by the maids, not my husband – before combing my hair and completing my appearance with some additional jewelry.

I walked out to the living room where Ikuto was waiting for me, and then he guided me to the restaurant, just like yesterday, with Tadase right behind our heels.

The blonde man gave me a sympathetic look and I smiled slightly at him in response. Could I do anything else? I had a solid answer, which was a 'no'.

We ate our dinner – this time the food was already served for us, so we didn't need to wait for it. I took a bite of my chicken steak, which I had to admit was delicious. The steak was served together with a glass of orange juice.

I was digging into my dinner happily when the door slid open, revealing Rima in a beautiful red hanfu, a Chinese traditional dress. I lost my appetite immediately,

She walked towards our table and sat beside Ikuto. Even I, his legal wife, had never had the chance to sit beside him. I saw how Ikuto treated her like a real princess. He ordered her the same steak as his – a tenderloin – and helped her cut the meat before placing it in front of her like a gentleman.

The moment he cut her steak, it was like he was cutting my heart on the hot plate instead of the chunk of meat. I felt the urge to cry and fought my tears back. I didn't want to show them my tears. I acted like it didn't affect me; instead, I gazed at my food and played with the vegetables before shoving them into my mouth slowly. It didn't taste as delicious as before – no, it tasted awful right now.

The two of them talked with each other as if I didn't exist. I paid no mind to them and continued eating my dinner, keep eating without tasting the food.

And that was when Rima's eyes fell on me.

I felt someone was looking at me and lifted my sight away from the food in front of me to face the blond girl. Now that I paid attention, she was around my age, and from the conversation I had heard just now, she was the only daughter of Ikuto's business partner.

Hah, I bet he only used her for his business plan and nothing more.

It calmed me down when I thought that way.

"Hinamori Amu?" she asked, earning my nod in return. "Well, Ikuto and I have big news to tell you," she said.

Oh yeah, that was why you and I were sitting across each other right now, right?

"Amu," Ikuto said, and I felt a new knife was jabbed into my heart. But he didn't stop there. "She's pregnant with my child now." And he took hold of Rima's hand before squeezing it affectionately.

Now a new big knife jabbed into my heart and tore it limb by limb.

So how was it? I hope I could get many reviews for this chapter ^^ anyway I will reply to your reviews again at the next chapter since I couldn't do it right now but please kindly R&R~ Have a great and wonderful day fellas ~